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14 BLUE FLAGS FOR PUGLIA’S BEACHES
MAY 12 ‒ COPENHAGEN, DENMARK ‒ The International Blue Flag Jury has just
announced its 2010 Blue Flag awards for beaches in Europe, Morocco, Tunisia and
Canada. The International Jury decided to award the Blue Flag to 2,884 beaches and
627 marinas in 33 countries. The Blue Flag award is based on environmental
education and information; water quality; environmental management; and safety and
services. The Blue Flag is awarded only for one season at a time.
The new list includes 14 beaches in Puglia:
Castellaneta ‒ Castellaneta Marina
Castro ‒ Grotta Zinzulusa
Castro ‒ La Sorgente
Ginosa ‒ Lido
Ostuni ‒ Camerini Creta Rossa
Ostuni ‒ Costa Merlata Torre Pozzelle
Ostuni ‒ Lido Morelli Rosa Marina
Polignano a Mare ‒ Cala Fetente
Polignano a Mare ‒ Cala San Giovanni
Rodi Garganico ‒ Spiaggia di Levante
Rodi Garganico ‒ Spiaggia di Ponente
Salve ‒ Marina di Pescoluse
Salve ‒ Posto Vecchio
Salve ‒ Torre Pali
For more information, see http://www.blueflag.org/.
FIVE PUGLIA HOTELS FEATURED IN EXPEDIA’S
2010 INSIDERS’ SELECT RANKINGS
MAY 4, 2010 ‒ BELLEVUE, Wash., May 4, 2010 – The online travel agency Expedia.
com today unveiled the Expedia 2010 Insiders’ Select results, an annual ranking of the
world’s best hotels for quality and value as determined mostly by traveler reviews.
Hotels that routinely exceed customer expectations – in their customer service,
amenities, competitive pricing and more – see that emphasis reflected in their
rankings. And this year, for the first time, Insiders’ Select hotels are searchable during
the booking process on Expedia.com, making it simple for travelers to maximize the
value of their travel dollars.
Five properties in Puglia made the 2010 list. They are listed by rank, name, score (out
of a possible 100), location and quality rating:
61. Risorgimento Resort (99.8), Lecce, 5 stars
1,110. Hotel Sierra Silvana (94.9), Selva di Fasano, 4 stars
1,524. Nicotel Barletta (93), Barletta, 4 stars
1,805. Tenuta Cocevola (91.7), Andria, 4 stars
1,821. Hotel Citta’ Bianca (91.6), Ostuni, 3 stars
The Insiders’ Select program, which debuted in 2007, ranks the top hotels from among
more than 123,000 properties offered on Expedia sites internationally. The list is
compiled using a mathematical formula that weighs three factors:
• More than one million traveler opinions from reviews submitted by Expedia customers
after completing a stay at a hotel booked on Expedia sites. Traveler reviews are the
most influential factor in the formula.
• A value rating that compares each property’s average daily rates to similar
properties to assess the relative value the hotel offers, making it easy for travelers to
identify hotels that deliver an excellent experience at a comparatively good value.
• The expertise of more than 400 Expedia market managers in cities across the globe,
who work hand in hand with Expedia’s hotel partners to maximize the value they get
from Expedia’s global online travel marketplace.
“Expedia.com travelers are among the most passionate in the world,” said John
Morrey, vice president of e-commerce at Expedia Inc. “Every year, we help them book
millions upon millions of hotel rooms, in every corner of the world. And in return, they
help us pinpoint the hotels that deliver a truly world-class experience. Traveler reviews
are a crucial part of the research and booking process for our travelers. We vet each
review carefully to confirm that the author actually stayed at the hotel. Then we gather
up more than a million of them, tabulate them and share the results with everyone.”
The 2010 list includes properties in 1,022 cities worldwide. Forty percent of Insiders’
Select hotels are in Europe, 30 percent are in the United States and 30 percent are
elsewhere in the world. The top ranking went to the Galaxy Iraklio Hotel on Crete.
Risorgimento Resort received the top score in Italy. For more information on Insiders’
Select, visit http://www.expedia.com/insidersselect.
PUGLIA SAYS “NO” TO OIL DRILLING OFF TREMITI ISLANDS
APRIL 28, 2010 ‒ As UNESCO weighs declaring the Tremiti Islands, a major tourism
site off Puglia’s Gargano promontory, a protected World Heritage Site, regional and
local officials as well as tourism organizations and environmentalists are banding
together to oppose any plans to drill for oil there, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (http:
//www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/) reports. Reportedly, the Ministry of Environment
has decided to let an Irish company explore “the seabed off the coast of Gargano (to
determine) whether or not there are conditions for installing wells,” La Gazzetta
reports. One official told the newspaper, “the people of Tremiti, the province of Foggia
and the Region of Puglia will oppose with all their strength to the idea of drilling.”
It would be a shame to give an oil company drilling rights to what La Gazzetta
describes as “one of the most important environmental assets of Puglia.” The islands
also are among Puglia’s richest tourism assets and their economy is 100% tourism
based. Yes, Puglia’s economy could use the boost that oil drilling could potentially
generate, but not at the expense of ruining one of Puglia’s most significant natural
resources.
PUGLIA & OECD: WE WILL COLLABORATE
TO IMPROVE TOURISM EXPERIENCE
(ANSA) ‒ BARI, NOVEMBER 13 ‒ The Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) will give the instructions and the reference points for training,
competence and human capital as a part of the monitoring of the policies, programs
and actions for the councillorship of tourism for the region of Puglia, announced the
director of entrepreneurs and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) of the
organization, Sergio Arzeni, who in recent days met with journalists together with the
regional councillor for tourism, Magda Terrevoli.
The monitoring, Arzeni explained, is a part of the “clear mandate set up by the OECD:
promoting green growth and jobs connected to that growth. These are the priorities of
the organization and in this context tourism plays an important role especially in this
period of crisis.” For Arzeni, “tourism and all that is connected to it is one of the
primary activities linked to the creation of jobs in the world. We are also in a moment
of severe crisis on the employment front and tourism can make an important
contribution in creating more sustainable work.” The collaboration that has started with
the Region of Puglia, the director of the OECD specified, “is the first of its kind with a
region of southern Italy.”
“Tourism is not only connected to the environment, but is also a service industry, and
the quality of the services makes all the difference,” Arzeni stated. “For this reason,
innovation is important and must be applied to the quality of the services and human
capital.” Speaking of governance, Arzeni explained that “the councillor for tourism
mustn’t only promote the territory, but also have an integrated approach and look to
the quality of life that also serves to attract and keep talent.”
For Terrevoli, “the idea of sustainable tourism is that of good tourism for those who
live in the locales as well, not only for those who come to visit as tourists. There is a
moment when simple promotion of the territory is no longer enough, because the
territory must be kept beautiful and inspiring in the same way that it has been sold.
Otherwise, the tourist who has a bad experience becomes a closed door for Puglia.”
Arzeni concluded, “Puglia has had great successes, but it is threatened by the
emergence of new competitors: on the other side of the Adriatic there was no market
for tourism 20 years ago, while today there are major investments. One must be up to
the challenge.” (© ANSA)
COUNCILLOR TERREVOLI PRESENTS PUGLIA
AT WORLD TRAVEL MARKET
(ANSA) ‒ BARI, NOVEMBER 13 ‒ “We are participating in this important expo for the
global sector of tourism, in a market that is so important for our region, to export and
promote the ‘Puglia brand’ and Italy on the international markets,” said the tourism
councillor of the Region of Puglia, Magda Terrevoli.
Terrevoli made her remark from London during the opening of the World Travel
Market (WTM), the global tourism event. Terrevoli was there to promote tourism in
Puglia together with Italian Tourism Minister Vittoria Brambilla.
“Incoming flows from the U.K. to our region reached around 18% in 2008, fluctuating
between second and third place in the ranking of foreign states that choose Puglia,”
Terrevoli added. “During 2009, 20% of tour operators have sold the product ‘Puglia,’
confirming the incoming of the previous year. The British market is recording very
good results on the portal viaggiareinpuglia.it as well. In fact, in September of this year
62.76% more people visited the site than in the same period in 2008,” the councilor
concluded. (© ANSA)
BARI 2020 OLYMPICS BID QUASHED
(ANSA) ‒ ROME, NOVEMBER 11 ‒ The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has formally
quashed Bari’s hopes of bidding for the 2020 Olympics, confirming Rome and Venice
as the contestants to become Italy's bidder.
In a letter to Mayor Michele Emiliano, CONI chief Gianni Petrucci said Bari did not have
the requisites to mount a bid. Bari is the capital of the Region of Puglia. He pointed out
that CONI had already tried to make this clear last month when it ruled out Palermo,
Sicily.
Despite this, Emiliano wrote to CONI earlier this week confirming the southeastern city
wanted to launch a bid. In his letter back, Petrucci said “the mere intention of
organizing the Games” was not enough and any application had to be made according
to the “essential, basic conditions laid down by the International Olympic Committee
and the Olympic Charter.” When he dismissed Palermo’s chances, Petrucci said
“'Rome and Venice are the only serious bidders, all the rest is just so much talk.”
Rome’s conservative mayor, Gianni Alemanno, said one of his center-left
predecessors, Francesco Rutelli, had come on board to help the Italian capital’s bid.
Alemanno, a member of Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party, said
Rutelli, who ran Rome from 1993 to 2001, could bring “priceless experience” to the
effort since he had led Rome's bid in the late ’90s for the 2004 Olympics.
On that occasion, Rome was narrowly beaten by Athens. Rome and Venice
immediately come forward after the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro on
October 2, saying they would like to host the following edition. Bari and Palermo then
expressed the same ambition, along with Milan, which has since withdrawn its bid.
Petrucci's blast on October 28 came a few days after one of Italy’s most prestigious
sports officials, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President Mario Pescante,
said he was pessimistic that Italy could stage a credible bid for the 2020 Games. “We’
re getting to the point where it’s beyond a joke. Bids are being made just out of local
pride, just to get people talking. We’re our own worst enemies,” said Pescante, a
former Italian sports minister.
Pescante stressed the importance of Italy quickly establishing which could the best
bidder so that the whole country could support it. “Once we’ve decided on the
candidate we have to get solidly behind it,” he said.But according to the IOC official,
any Italian bidder is “not favorite” in a race which could feature Brisbane, Prague,
Copenhagen, Budapest, Delhi, Mumbai, Mexico City, Auckland, Warsaw, Cape Town,
St Petersburg, Taipei, Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Paul/Minneapolis.
Bids must be presented by the end of 2011 and the winner will be announced in 2013.
Rome hosted the Games in 1960; Venice has never staged a major international
sporting event. (© ANSA)
ARCHAEOLOGY: NEW MOSAIC DISCOVERED
IN CANOSA DI PUGLIA
(ANSA) ‒ CANOSA DI PUGLIA (BARLETTA-ANDRIA-TRANI), OCTOBER 30 ‒ A
mosaic showing the figures of two animals was discovered in the Basilica of Santa
Maria in Canosa di Puglia, a town that is rich in early Christian complexes ordered by
the Bishop Sabino in the sixth century AD, the town administration reported.
Experts claim it is a rare example of the decorative art, created with small pieces of
orange, dark red and blue, in limestone, pebbles and glass paste. It is the
representation of two deer which drink from a “kantharos” (a cup for libations).
The mosaic was uncovered during the excavations that some 30 scholars from the
University of Foggia are carrying out in the area of San Giovanni al Piano. “It is an
important discovery because the iconography of the two animals has never been seen
before in Puglia and is very rare in other early Christian complexes in southern Italy,”
said the chancellor of the university and director of the excavation, Giuliano Volpe.
The mosaic was found in the basilica of Santa Maria, the oldest cathedral built in
Canosa and one of the first in all of Puglia. The excavation is led by Professors
Roberta Giuliani and Danilo Leone and is being executed in collaboration with the
Region of Puglia’s Superintendence of Archaeological Heritage Office, with the
township of Canosa and with the Canosina Archaeological Foundation. (© ANSA)
PUGLIA REGION: 40,000 USERS OF TOURISM PORTAL
IN SEPTEMBER
(ANSA) ‒ BARI, OCTOBER 30 ‒ More than 40,000 users connected to the portal www.
viaggiareinpuglia.it in September 2009, determining a growth of 40.12% compared to
the same period of the previous year, for a total of some 400,000 visits from January
to August 2009, a statement read.
The increase, documented in a report from Google Analytics, was also recorded for
the entire period of January to August 2009 with peaks in February, June and July.
The increased access to the portal for the month of September came from foreign
countries: +48.79 from Germany; +101% from the U.S.A.; +62.76% from the U.K.; +64.
82% from Switzerland; +80.80% from Austria; +88.99% from Belgium; +120% from
Canada; +10.85% from France. But Italy also increased with +36.89%.
“We are satisfied with the results reached that push us to work better and more,” said
the Regional Councillor for Tourism, Magda Terrevoli. “We focused on the web
because we are aware of the fact that today affirmations run on the level of the social
networks. The portal www.viaggiareinpuglia.it is not new to success; it recently won the
‘BIT Award 2009’ as best portal for navigability, accessibility and content updates,
according to a study carried out by La Sapienza University in Rome.”
Terrevoli concluded, “We are working on a strategic communication plan that aims at
making the markets we have already acquired loyal, and above all creating new ones.”
(© ANSA)
PHOTO RETROSPECTIVE ON HERMITAGES IN FOGGIA
(ANSA) ‒ FOGGIA, OCTOBER 24 ‒ A photographic exhibition dedicated to the
“Hermitages of Pulsano” near Monte Sant’Angelo has been will be set up in the
multimedia hall of the Dogana Palace in Foggia. The hermitages, which are located
around the current Abbey of Santa Maria di Pulsano about 10 kilometers from Monte
Sant'Angelo, are more or less inaccessible areas that have been visited for centuries
by a small community of hermit monks who could not reach their cells without the aid
of stairs or ropes tied to pulleys.
Today, after many years of disuse, the Abbey has returned to life again thanks to the
hermit fathers that have returned to live there making visits possible to the
hermitages. The hermitages of Pulsano will be made accessible and usable through
properly equipped paths. The show, the Councillorship to Tourism of the Province of
Foggia emphasized, is a project that “is not an end in itself”' but the beginning of a
path of rediscovery and optimization of places that have been forgotten for too long
and are unfortunately not known to many today.
The photography exhibition by Angelo Torre will be presented as a part of the
“Religious and Protected Areas Tourism Market ‒ Aurea” and will become a traveling
exhibition for some months in the towns of the province that are closest to the
hermitages. At the end of this initiative, the exhibit will be donated to the Abbey of
Santa Maria di Pulsano, where it will be on display permanently. The area of Pulsano
is found inside the Gargano National Park, which has been a “Site of Community
Importance” since 2000. (© ANSA)
MAY 12 ‒ COPENHAGEN, DENMARK ‒ The International Blue Flag Jury has just
announced its 2010 Blue Flag awards for beaches in Europe, Morocco, Tunisia and
Canada. The International Jury decided to award the Blue Flag to 2,884 beaches and
627 marinas in 33 countries. The Blue Flag award is based on environmental
education and information; water quality; environmental management; and safety and
services. The Blue Flag is awarded only for one season at a time.
The new list includes 14 beaches in Puglia:
Castellaneta ‒ Castellaneta Marina
Castro ‒ Grotta Zinzulusa
Castro ‒ La Sorgente
Ginosa ‒ Lido
Ostuni ‒ Camerini Creta Rossa
Ostuni ‒ Costa Merlata Torre Pozzelle
Ostuni ‒ Lido Morelli Rosa Marina
Polignano a Mare ‒ Cala Fetente
Polignano a Mare ‒ Cala San Giovanni
Rodi Garganico ‒ Spiaggia di Levante
Rodi Garganico ‒ Spiaggia di Ponente
Salve ‒ Marina di Pescoluse
Salve ‒ Posto Vecchio
Salve ‒ Torre Pali
For more information, see http://www.blueflag.org/.
FIVE PUGLIA HOTELS FEATURED IN EXPEDIA’S
2010 INSIDERS’ SELECT RANKINGS
MAY 4, 2010 ‒ BELLEVUE, Wash., May 4, 2010 – The online travel agency Expedia.
com today unveiled the Expedia 2010 Insiders’ Select results, an annual ranking of the
world’s best hotels for quality and value as determined mostly by traveler reviews.
Hotels that routinely exceed customer expectations – in their customer service,
amenities, competitive pricing and more – see that emphasis reflected in their
rankings. And this year, for the first time, Insiders’ Select hotels are searchable during
the booking process on Expedia.com, making it simple for travelers to maximize the
value of their travel dollars.
Five properties in Puglia made the 2010 list. They are listed by rank, name, score (out
of a possible 100), location and quality rating:
61. Risorgimento Resort (99.8), Lecce, 5 stars
1,110. Hotel Sierra Silvana (94.9), Selva di Fasano, 4 stars
1,524. Nicotel Barletta (93), Barletta, 4 stars
1,805. Tenuta Cocevola (91.7), Andria, 4 stars
1,821. Hotel Citta’ Bianca (91.6), Ostuni, 3 stars
The Insiders’ Select program, which debuted in 2007, ranks the top hotels from among
more than 123,000 properties offered on Expedia sites internationally. The list is
compiled using a mathematical formula that weighs three factors:
• More than one million traveler opinions from reviews submitted by Expedia customers
after completing a stay at a hotel booked on Expedia sites. Traveler reviews are the
most influential factor in the formula.
• A value rating that compares each property’s average daily rates to similar
properties to assess the relative value the hotel offers, making it easy for travelers to
identify hotels that deliver an excellent experience at a comparatively good value.
• The expertise of more than 400 Expedia market managers in cities across the globe,
who work hand in hand with Expedia’s hotel partners to maximize the value they get
from Expedia’s global online travel marketplace.
“Expedia.com travelers are among the most passionate in the world,” said John
Morrey, vice president of e-commerce at Expedia Inc. “Every year, we help them book
millions upon millions of hotel rooms, in every corner of the world. And in return, they
help us pinpoint the hotels that deliver a truly world-class experience. Traveler reviews
are a crucial part of the research and booking process for our travelers. We vet each
review carefully to confirm that the author actually stayed at the hotel. Then we gather
up more than a million of them, tabulate them and share the results with everyone.”
The 2010 list includes properties in 1,022 cities worldwide. Forty percent of Insiders’
Select hotels are in Europe, 30 percent are in the United States and 30 percent are
elsewhere in the world. The top ranking went to the Galaxy Iraklio Hotel on Crete.
Risorgimento Resort received the top score in Italy. For more information on Insiders’
Select, visit http://www.expedia.com/insidersselect.
PUGLIA SAYS “NO” TO OIL DRILLING OFF TREMITI ISLANDS
APRIL 28, 2010 ‒ As UNESCO weighs declaring the Tremiti Islands, a major tourism
site off Puglia’s Gargano promontory, a protected World Heritage Site, regional and
local officials as well as tourism organizations and environmentalists are banding
together to oppose any plans to drill for oil there, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (http:
//www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/) reports. Reportedly, the Ministry of Environment
has decided to let an Irish company explore “the seabed off the coast of Gargano (to
determine) whether or not there are conditions for installing wells,” La Gazzetta
reports. One official told the newspaper, “the people of Tremiti, the province of Foggia
and the Region of Puglia will oppose with all their strength to the idea of drilling.”
It would be a shame to give an oil company drilling rights to what La Gazzetta
describes as “one of the most important environmental assets of Puglia.” The islands
also are among Puglia’s richest tourism assets and their economy is 100% tourism
based. Yes, Puglia’s economy could use the boost that oil drilling could potentially
generate, but not at the expense of ruining one of Puglia’s most significant natural
resources.
PUGLIA & OECD: WE WILL COLLABORATE
TO IMPROVE TOURISM EXPERIENCE
(ANSA) ‒ BARI, NOVEMBER 13 ‒ The Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) will give the instructions and the reference points for training,
competence and human capital as a part of the monitoring of the policies, programs
and actions for the councillorship of tourism for the region of Puglia, announced the
director of entrepreneurs and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) of the
organization, Sergio Arzeni, who in recent days met with journalists together with the
regional councillor for tourism, Magda Terrevoli.
The monitoring, Arzeni explained, is a part of the “clear mandate set up by the OECD:
promoting green growth and jobs connected to that growth. These are the priorities of
the organization and in this context tourism plays an important role especially in this
period of crisis.” For Arzeni, “tourism and all that is connected to it is one of the
primary activities linked to the creation of jobs in the world. We are also in a moment
of severe crisis on the employment front and tourism can make an important
contribution in creating more sustainable work.” The collaboration that has started with
the Region of Puglia, the director of the OECD specified, “is the first of its kind with a
region of southern Italy.”
“Tourism is not only connected to the environment, but is also a service industry, and
the quality of the services makes all the difference,” Arzeni stated. “For this reason,
innovation is important and must be applied to the quality of the services and human
capital.” Speaking of governance, Arzeni explained that “the councillor for tourism
mustn’t only promote the territory, but also have an integrated approach and look to
the quality of life that also serves to attract and keep talent.”
For Terrevoli, “the idea of sustainable tourism is that of good tourism for those who
live in the locales as well, not only for those who come to visit as tourists. There is a
moment when simple promotion of the territory is no longer enough, because the
territory must be kept beautiful and inspiring in the same way that it has been sold.
Otherwise, the tourist who has a bad experience becomes a closed door for Puglia.”
Arzeni concluded, “Puglia has had great successes, but it is threatened by the
emergence of new competitors: on the other side of the Adriatic there was no market
for tourism 20 years ago, while today there are major investments. One must be up to
the challenge.” (© ANSA)
COUNCILLOR TERREVOLI PRESENTS PUGLIA
AT WORLD TRAVEL MARKET
(ANSA) ‒ BARI, NOVEMBER 13 ‒ “We are participating in this important expo for the
global sector of tourism, in a market that is so important for our region, to export and
promote the ‘Puglia brand’ and Italy on the international markets,” said the tourism
councillor of the Region of Puglia, Magda Terrevoli.
Terrevoli made her remark from London during the opening of the World Travel
Market (WTM), the global tourism event. Terrevoli was there to promote tourism in
Puglia together with Italian Tourism Minister Vittoria Brambilla.
“Incoming flows from the U.K. to our region reached around 18% in 2008, fluctuating
between second and third place in the ranking of foreign states that choose Puglia,”
Terrevoli added. “During 2009, 20% of tour operators have sold the product ‘Puglia,’
confirming the incoming of the previous year. The British market is recording very
good results on the portal viaggiareinpuglia.it as well. In fact, in September of this year
62.76% more people visited the site than in the same period in 2008,” the councilor
concluded. (© ANSA)
BARI 2020 OLYMPICS BID QUASHED
(ANSA) ‒ ROME, NOVEMBER 11 ‒ The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has formally
quashed Bari’s hopes of bidding for the 2020 Olympics, confirming Rome and Venice
as the contestants to become Italy's bidder.
In a letter to Mayor Michele Emiliano, CONI chief Gianni Petrucci said Bari did not have
the requisites to mount a bid. Bari is the capital of the Region of Puglia. He pointed out
that CONI had already tried to make this clear last month when it ruled out Palermo,
Sicily.
Despite this, Emiliano wrote to CONI earlier this week confirming the southeastern city
wanted to launch a bid. In his letter back, Petrucci said “the mere intention of
organizing the Games” was not enough and any application had to be made according
to the “essential, basic conditions laid down by the International Olympic Committee
and the Olympic Charter.” When he dismissed Palermo’s chances, Petrucci said
“'Rome and Venice are the only serious bidders, all the rest is just so much talk.”
Rome’s conservative mayor, Gianni Alemanno, said one of his center-left
predecessors, Francesco Rutelli, had come on board to help the Italian capital’s bid.
Alemanno, a member of Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party, said
Rutelli, who ran Rome from 1993 to 2001, could bring “priceless experience” to the
effort since he had led Rome's bid in the late ’90s for the 2004 Olympics.
On that occasion, Rome was narrowly beaten by Athens. Rome and Venice
immediately come forward after the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro on
October 2, saying they would like to host the following edition. Bari and Palermo then
expressed the same ambition, along with Milan, which has since withdrawn its bid.
Petrucci's blast on October 28 came a few days after one of Italy’s most prestigious
sports officials, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President Mario Pescante,
said he was pessimistic that Italy could stage a credible bid for the 2020 Games. “We’
re getting to the point where it’s beyond a joke. Bids are being made just out of local
pride, just to get people talking. We’re our own worst enemies,” said Pescante, a
former Italian sports minister.
Pescante stressed the importance of Italy quickly establishing which could the best
bidder so that the whole country could support it. “Once we’ve decided on the
candidate we have to get solidly behind it,” he said.But according to the IOC official,
any Italian bidder is “not favorite” in a race which could feature Brisbane, Prague,
Copenhagen, Budapest, Delhi, Mumbai, Mexico City, Auckland, Warsaw, Cape Town,
St Petersburg, Taipei, Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Paul/Minneapolis.
Bids must be presented by the end of 2011 and the winner will be announced in 2013.
Rome hosted the Games in 1960; Venice has never staged a major international
sporting event. (© ANSA)
ARCHAEOLOGY: NEW MOSAIC DISCOVERED
IN CANOSA DI PUGLIA
(ANSA) ‒ CANOSA DI PUGLIA (BARLETTA-ANDRIA-TRANI), OCTOBER 30 ‒ A
mosaic showing the figures of two animals was discovered in the Basilica of Santa
Maria in Canosa di Puglia, a town that is rich in early Christian complexes ordered by
the Bishop Sabino in the sixth century AD, the town administration reported.
Experts claim it is a rare example of the decorative art, created with small pieces of
orange, dark red and blue, in limestone, pebbles and glass paste. It is the
representation of two deer which drink from a “kantharos” (a cup for libations).
The mosaic was uncovered during the excavations that some 30 scholars from the
University of Foggia are carrying out in the area of San Giovanni al Piano. “It is an
important discovery because the iconography of the two animals has never been seen
before in Puglia and is very rare in other early Christian complexes in southern Italy,”
said the chancellor of the university and director of the excavation, Giuliano Volpe.
The mosaic was found in the basilica of Santa Maria, the oldest cathedral built in
Canosa and one of the first in all of Puglia. The excavation is led by Professors
Roberta Giuliani and Danilo Leone and is being executed in collaboration with the
Region of Puglia’s Superintendence of Archaeological Heritage Office, with the
township of Canosa and with the Canosina Archaeological Foundation. (© ANSA)
PUGLIA REGION: 40,000 USERS OF TOURISM PORTAL
IN SEPTEMBER
(ANSA) ‒ BARI, OCTOBER 30 ‒ More than 40,000 users connected to the portal www.
viaggiareinpuglia.it in September 2009, determining a growth of 40.12% compared to
the same period of the previous year, for a total of some 400,000 visits from January
to August 2009, a statement read.
The increase, documented in a report from Google Analytics, was also recorded for
the entire period of January to August 2009 with peaks in February, June and July.
The increased access to the portal for the month of September came from foreign
countries: +48.79 from Germany; +101% from the U.S.A.; +62.76% from the U.K.; +64.
82% from Switzerland; +80.80% from Austria; +88.99% from Belgium; +120% from
Canada; +10.85% from France. But Italy also increased with +36.89%.
“We are satisfied with the results reached that push us to work better and more,” said
the Regional Councillor for Tourism, Magda Terrevoli. “We focused on the web
because we are aware of the fact that today affirmations run on the level of the social
networks. The portal www.viaggiareinpuglia.it is not new to success; it recently won the
‘BIT Award 2009’ as best portal for navigability, accessibility and content updates,
according to a study carried out by La Sapienza University in Rome.”
Terrevoli concluded, “We are working on a strategic communication plan that aims at
making the markets we have already acquired loyal, and above all creating new ones.”
(© ANSA)
PHOTO RETROSPECTIVE ON HERMITAGES IN FOGGIA
(ANSA) ‒ FOGGIA, OCTOBER 24 ‒ A photographic exhibition dedicated to the
“Hermitages of Pulsano” near Monte Sant’Angelo has been will be set up in the
multimedia hall of the Dogana Palace in Foggia. The hermitages, which are located
around the current Abbey of Santa Maria di Pulsano about 10 kilometers from Monte
Sant'Angelo, are more or less inaccessible areas that have been visited for centuries
by a small community of hermit monks who could not reach their cells without the aid
of stairs or ropes tied to pulleys.
Today, after many years of disuse, the Abbey has returned to life again thanks to the
hermit fathers that have returned to live there making visits possible to the
hermitages. The hermitages of Pulsano will be made accessible and usable through
properly equipped paths. The show, the Councillorship to Tourism of the Province of
Foggia emphasized, is a project that “is not an end in itself”' but the beginning of a
path of rediscovery and optimization of places that have been forgotten for too long
and are unfortunately not known to many today.
The photography exhibition by Angelo Torre will be presented as a part of the
“Religious and Protected Areas Tourism Market ‒ Aurea” and will become a traveling
exhibition for some months in the towns of the province that are closest to the
hermitages. At the end of this initiative, the exhibit will be donated to the Abbey of
Santa Maria di Pulsano, where it will be on display permanently. The area of Pulsano
is found inside the Gargano National Park, which has been a “Site of Community
Importance” since 2000. (© ANSA)
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